National Experiences - British Commission for Military History

tH e so u t H af r i C a n air fo r C e: Hi s t o r i C a l notes a n d in v o lv e m e n t in t H e ko r e a n wa r 273
6500 Women’s Auxiliaries), had 35 operational squadrons and operated 33 different
aircraft types. As part of the Allied Joint Air Training Scheme, more than 33 347 pilots
were trained at the 38 air schools set up around Southern Africa. Of these 12 221
flew for the SAAF while many South Africans also served in the British Royal Air
Force. 8 Operationally a high priority was awarded to control over the vital sea route
around the Cape. The SAAF provided valuable assistance to naval units in keeping
the strategic shipping lanes clear of Axis warships and submarines and flew more
than 15 000 coastal patrol missions during the war. The SAAF first went into action
against the Italians in the Horn of Africa (Abyssinia), moving from there to the
Western Desert theatre in North Africa. In Abyssinia SAAF set about neutralising
the Italian air force in the area (Italy was then part of the Axis Forces) flying 5000
sorties, destroying 71 enemy aircraft in combat and at least 70 in attacks on airfields,
while their losses were 79 pilots and aircrew dead and 5 missing in action. 9 South
African pilots established a reputation for valour and determination and their valuable
contribution to the Desert Air Force (North Africa) in 1942 can be judged from
the fact that on D+1 of the El Alamein attack, No 3 Wing of the SAAF flew 133 of
the 174 bomber sorties, while the four fighter squadrons flew 1 377 sorties (106 a
day) between 19 and 31 October. 10 In addition the SAAF also made vital contributions
to the campaigns in the Mediterranean, the Balkans, Italy and flew very demanding
missions, parachuting supplies to the Polish Home Army in Warsaw during
August and September 1944.
As a result of the altered strategic situation after the end of the war, the Russians
closed all access to West Berlin in June 1948 and the vast amounts of provisions
the city required had to be provided by air. From October 1948 onwards 20 SAAF
aircrews joined other air forces in the “Berlin Air Bridge” (which lasted into 1949)
flying thousands of tons of food and coal into Berlin. 11
The Korean War
After open conflict broke out in Korea in 1950 the South African government
availed 2 Squadron of the SAAF (with 49 officers and 157 airmen) to serve with
the United Nations forces in Korea. The “Flying Cheetahs” as they were called, left
South Africa on 27 September for the Johnson Air Force Base in Tokyo, where they
converted to F-51D Mustangs before travelling on to Korea. In 1953 they traded
their surviving Mustangs for the F86F Sabre. 12 During the Korean conflict the Flying
Cheetahs carried out 12 405 operational flights with Mustang and Sabre aircraft
while aircraft losses amounted to 79. In total 826 South Africans served in Korea, of
8 H. Heitman, Suid-Afrikaanse Krygsmag, p. 57.
9 K.A. Maxwell and J.M. Smith, SA Air Force Golden Jubilee Book, p. 42.
10 H. Heitman, South African Armed Forces, Buffalo Publications, Cape Town, 1990, p. 55.
11 P. Moorcraft, Africa’s Super Power, p. 138.
12 H. Heitman, South African Armed Forces, p. 57.